24 June 2011

Is India's IT supremacy at stake?

The Indian information technology (IT) industry that is poised to become a $225 billion industry by 2020 seems to be at stake due to the alarming deficit in both the number and quality of engineers. IT has become one of the most significant growth catalysts for the Indian economy and the industry with its large pool of quality engineers has brought India on the global map.

According to a Nasscom study, Indian IT sector needs 7.5 million engineers in next 10 years to retain its competitive edge. Also, Indian Semiconductor Association estimates that the demand for workforce in design industry will grow at an annual growth rate of 20 percent to touch 2,30,000 by 2012.

Are we equipped to meet this increasing demand? Many surveys say NO. A World Bank study on Employability & Skill Set of Newly Graduated Engineers India revealed that nearly 65 percent of prospective employers are not happy with skills that fresh graduates bring to the table. The Nasscom study also revealed that the majority of 7,00,000 graduates that India produces annually, lack the quality skills required to be employed.

Another survey by Nasscom found that only one in four engineering graduates is employable in India. Different studies have repeatedly warned that in near future India will reach to a point where the country would suffer a shortfall of over half the skilled human resources needed to satisfy the needs of the industry in the coming years.

Moreover, this negative trend will adversely affect the country's ambitious aim of a double digit economic growth in the near future. The standard of education declined when the higher education system began massively expanding enrolments due to the increasing demand. It's high time that the industry design proper action plans to generate the required skilled manpower so that India keeps its IT supremacy and the saga of its glory continues.

Share your thoughts on the current situation - the decreasing number and the quality & your views on what the nation can do about it.